Morton Chevrolet & KDKA election results ad, 1948

In 1948, the technology that provided election results wasn't as up-to-the-minute as it is today. Voters relied on radios, or their daily papers, to find out the election's outcome.

According to the November 2, 1948, Beaver Valley Times, that evening's KDKA election results radio broadcast would be the 28th anniversary of the first public radio election returns broadcast in Beaver County. Even reporting the election returns on the radio was quite the process back in 1920:

The returns were broadcast by KDKA, Pittsburgh, in its initial regularly-scheduled service and were received by the Daily Times, forerunner of the Beaver County Times, in Beaver.

Reception of the returns was made possible by Walter Barnhart, head of the Barnhart radio and electric store in Beaver, who built and operated the receiving equipment and amplifier used by the newspaper. No loud speakers were available, but Mr. Barnhart devised an amplifier by using a large megaphone loaned by Beaver high school.
...
A large crowd listened to the broadcast at the office of the Daily Times on Third street.

Morton Chevrolet, KDKA election results ad
Daily Citizen
November 1, 1948

1948, the year of the ad above, was also the year of the upset election in which the polls had predicted Republican Thomas E. Dewey would win the presidential election; but the polls were wrong, and Harry S. Truman became president. Truman was famously pictured gleefully holding up the erroneous November 3, 1948, Chicago Daily Tribune, with the large banner headline "Dewey Defeats Truman," and reportedly said, "That ain't the way I heard it."

Even though Dewey won Pennsylvania's presidential vote, the Daily Times reported that Ambridge had voted 2 - 1 for Truman.

Ambridge Arena, Fourth Street

Former Ambridge Arena
287 Fourth Street
Circa 1970s?
Laughlin Memorial Library archives
used with permission

The label on the photo says: "1905-Ambridge Arena-Palm Garden Rainbow Garden, Nash Garage" I do not know who the photographer was or who labeled the photo. I also don't know exactly when the photo was taken or what business was in the building then, as I can't read the painted sign on the building.

For at least 75 years, the Ambridge Arena building stood at 287 Fourth Street. The alley to its right ran between it and the back of the building at 401 Merchant street that was once the Nicholas Grill and later The Red Bull Inn. The Arena has been razed and is currently an empty lot.

Empty lot
Former location of Ambridge Arena
287 Fourth Street
September 20, 2014

I do not know the reason the label on the library's photo says "1905." At first I thought that 1905 must have been the year the building was constructed, but 1905 and 1911 insurance maps of Ambridge show an empty lot where this building stood. A 1917 map does show it, labeled "Auditorium Theatre." The April 30, 1978, Beaver County Times says in the article "Forgotten theaters mark passing era" that the building was built in 1907 and was also known as the "Lyceum." But if it was built in 1907, why wasn't it on the 1911 map?

[Update January 5, 2016: The Daily Times of November 29, 1911, has a small notice that I believe may refer to the Ambridge Arena building:

C. R. Doyle has started work on a large auditorium building located on Charles street, for the accommodation of large gatherings. Messrs R. B. McDanel & Sons, of New Brighton, have the contract and it is to be finished early in the new year.

Fourth St. was once called Charles St.

I am still looking for more information on the construction and opening dates.

Also, here's another photo. I don't have a date for it. It's probably from the 1970s just like the photo above.

Former Ambridge Arena

287 Fourth Street

Circa 1970s?

Laughlin Memorial Library archives

used with permission

End of update.]

In its early years, the rather modest-looking brick building was an Ambridge entertainment center. The building once housed the Palm Garden and Rainbow Garden movie theaters, perhaps in the 1920s or '30s.* I'm still looking for information on those theaters. Boxing and wrestling matches were held there, and it once offered roller skating. The 1978 Times article says that political rallies and dances also were held there.

I have been unable to find any information so far on a "Nash Garage," as noted on the label, in this building. However, Barky Motor Sales, which sold Nash autos in the '40s and '50s, was at 287 Fourth Street.

According to Ambridge history buff Bob Mikush, the building was later a workmen's social club, (name forgotten by Mikush and not yet found by me) that some locals simply called "the Commie Club" -- referring to the political leanings of the members I guess. Mikush remembers seeing a large stage and "big ballroom" in the building.

Later, the building was a warehouse for Modern Furniture. T&S Auto Body was in the building in the 1980s. In the late 1980s, the Ohio Valley Lines Model Railroad Club met on the second floor.

Even though the Arena's building is gone, at least part of it lives on. Brian Trapold, whose brother Phil was the "T" in T&S Auto Body, says that when Phil owned the building and wanted more work space for the cars, he and Phil carefully removed the beautiful maple hardwood dance floor, and some of the wood was repurposed as Brian's front porch. Thanks for that great story, Brian!

Update January 23, 2015: Thank you, Eddie Dzubak, for more information about the fate of the Arena's wood floor:

Phil gave me some of the same wood that Brian made his beautiful porch out of. It was 1" thick maple that Phil even helped me install. I remember he found the receipt for it and it was dated from the '20s. The flooring is still in the house we have in the historic district.

If anyone has more information on this building, or about the photographer of the library archive photo, please leave a comment.
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*In the August 13, 1964, Beaver County Times article, "a history lesson on movies," Tom Moore, who began working as a movie projectionist in 1916 when the projectors were still hand-cranked, and later worked at Ambridge's Grand, Prince, and Ambridge theaters, said, "When a man showed up at the Palm Gardens with a Victrola and a movie, many people thought that sound would never be a reality. The sound would seldom fit the pictures, and even the pictures weren't very good."

Moore said that the Palm Gardens was one of Ambridge's four theaters in the 1930s; the others were: Idle Hours, Family, and Grand.

The Grand was at 561 Merchant which later become part of G.C. Murphy. I have yet to find any information about the Idle Hours or Family theaters.

Ambridge trivia: Did you know...? #6 Kennedy Drive

Kennedy Drive was called Latimer Avenue until December 9, 1963, when Ambridge Borough Council changed the street's name to honor President John F. Kennedy, assassinated less than three weeks earlier on November 22.

Kennedy had traveled via Latimer Avenue enroute to Pittsburgh from a political rally in Aliquippa on October 12, 1962.

According to the December 10, 1963 issue of the Beaver County Times, 41 residents of Latimer Avenue had petitioned to ask for the name change.

51st Anniversary of the JFK Visit - Part II

by Robert Giles

Below is President Kennedy’s calendar for October 12th and 13th, the two days he campaigned in Western Pennsylvania. Note that his day began in New York City with a fund-raiser and that he spoke at Columbus Day festivities in Newark, NJ and in New York City that same morning. He then boarded Air Force One and flew to Pittsburgh.

(His agenda and appointments for the entire month of October 1962 is at  History Central.  History buffs may be interested in the entries for the twelve days beginning October 16th - the Cuban Missile Crisis.)

October 12

• The President gave a brief address at a fund raising breakfast at the Carlyle Hotel (New York, NY).
•  The President drove to Newark and spoke at the Columbus Day celebrations in Newark NJ.
• The President returned to New York City to review its Columbus Day Parade.
• The President flew to Pittsburgh.
• The President spoke at an Aliquippa PA political rally (from a stand in the municipal parking lot).
• In the evening the President gave a speech at the University of Pittsburgh (Fitzgerald Field House).

October 13

• The President began the day with an address at McKeesport PA.
• The President traveled to Monessen PA.
• He then spoke at the Washington County Courthouse (Washington PA).
• The President traveled to Indianapolis IN where yet again he gave a campaign speech.
• Next he traveled to Louisville, where he addressed a Democratic Party rally at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds.

At Aliquippa and elsewhere, JFK campaigned for Democratic candidates. At Aliquippa he endorsed Philadelphia Mayor Richardson Dilworth (governor), Senator Joseph Clark (reelection), and Representative Frank Clark (reelection). Outgoing Governor David Lawrence was also on hand to provide support.

Kennedy's speech in Aliquippa is standard campaign boilerplate but the forceful, polished delivery makes it almost inspiring. Here is a real politician at work.

A sound recording of the speech is at the JFK Library.

Kennedy's strong voice does not reveal a whit of fatigue despite his grueling schedule and the fact that he has just flown 400 miles. Aliquippa was his fourth campaign appearance of the day. It is still early in the afternoon.

(When I saw him on Latimer Avenue in Ambridge he seemed aglow with energy and good health. In actuality, JFK suffered from a number of very serious medical conditions including Addison’s disease. On October 4, scarcely one week earlier, the President had cancelled all appointments due to an illness.)

You may be interested in newspaper accounts of the rallies in Mon Valley towns on the second day of his visit --

McKeesport PA

Monessen PA

It is interesting that the case President Kennedy made against Republican recalcitrance 51 years ago is echoed in the complaints of Democrats today. 

In reply, conservative Republicans and their allies would claim that JFK's domestic agenda (minimum wage, Medicare, housing, aid to education) steals money from the better off, diminishes states' rights, curtails freedom, and contributes to the debt. 

I inserted the word "conservative" because in 1962 the GOP had a moderate to liberal wing. The GOP until recent years included politicians like William Scranton, who defeated Mayor Dilworth in the PA governor's race that November. It was Governor Scranton who tried to face down the Goldwater steamroller at the 1964 Republican Convention.

It was actually a coalition of conservative Republicans and Southern Democrats who defeated most of Kennedy's legislation.

In politics, even a little complexity will ruin your story every time. We can't expect the President to campaign against his fellow Democrats. 

Watch this video at PG Video. (Wait a moment for the commercial message to clear.)

In the video, David Shribman, executive editor of the Post-Gazette, expertly sums up the Kennedy visit in the context of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of the President just over a year later.

51st Anniversary of the JFK Visit - Part I

by Robert Giles

I remember standing with my brother Dave on Latimer Avenue in Ambridge waiting for President Kennedy.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon in October. We didn't have to go to school that day - it was the Columbus Day holiday.

Dad had dropped us off before going to work on the afternoon shift at American Bridge.

I wasn't aware that the President was coming. Word had passed through the steelworker locals to get out and greet the President's motorcade. I'm guessing that is how Dad knew.

Dad always voted Republican. Offhandedly, he asked us if we would like to see the President.

Would I??? What’s the matter, old man? How can you ask?

I don't know if Dave shared my enthusiasm but we both climbed into the back seat of the Ford.

The crowds lining Latimer Avenue would have satisfied the most demanding advance man.

We elbowed our way to the curb. There was a hush, then the growl of a hundred motorcycles. It was the cops, outfitted for the highway patrol: crash helmets with face-plates, white shirts, blue pants, and black boots. Jesus.

The motorcycles were followed by a parade of open Lincoln Continentals packed with politicians  - the Fourth of July had come on Columbus Day, 1962.

There he was - my hero, John F. Kennedy. He waved right at me. He was tan. He oozed the Kennedy vigor. He had charisma (just like it said in Time, Look, and the Saturday Evening Post).

Athletic-looking men jogged alongside the President's limousine, looking carefully from side-to-side. I had just turned 13 - I didn't realize until  later that they were Secret Service agents, dutifully guarding the President, who sat exposed and vulnerable in the open car. 

In a moment, the street grew quiet. The motorcade had turned the corner and was on its way south on Ohio River Boulevard.

Ambridge Borough Swimming Pool expansion: the solons' inspection

While you're waiting for the next article about the Ambridge Borough Swimming Pool, enjoy a photo about the pool expansion plans. I think it's a nice segue from the posts about the bathhouse to one about the pools themselves, since the "solons" are standing on the bathhouse roof.

Photo about the planned pool expansion from The Beaver County Times, February 4, 1960.

The text under the photo says:

SOLONS INSPECT SWIMMING POOL - Several Ambridge Borough officials inspected the borough swimming pool area Wednesday in connection with plans to enlarge the sun deck and construct a picnic pavilion adjacent to the pool. Shown here, left to right, are Councilman John Kaiser, chairman of council's redevelopment committee; Joseph Rodio, borough secretary; Floree Aquino, president of council; Charles Radakovich, chairman of the recreation committee; Stanley Phillips, chairman of the property committee, and Ollie Werner, a representative of Michael Baker Jr., Inc., borough engineer.

While I remember the deck being expanded when the sloping area was added on the baseball field side of the pool, I don't recall "a picnic pavilion adjacent to the pool" being constructed in the 60s. I hope to find out more about the planned pavilion.

Update June 1, 2014:According to the Times' caption under the photo below, the pool deck expansion being contemplated in 1960 wasn't completed until before the 1965 season. (Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. That's the way it was published in the online digitized version.) I still have not found any further mention of the planned "picnic pavilion adjacent to the pool".

Ambridge pool inprovments,
Beaver County Times,
May 22, 1965

The text under the photo says:

POOL IMPROVEMENTS - Ambridge Water Authority employes [sic] install a new water line at Ambridge swimming pool. The bathhouse has been painted and sun deck extended in preparation for the start of the 1965 swimming season on Memorial Day.

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Today's vocabulary word: In case you were wondering, as I was, what a "solon" is, it's "a member of a legislative body." Impress folks by using "solons" the next time you talk about the Borough Council.